Hosiery form



Nov. 4, 1930.

W. J. DE WITT HosIE'RY FORM f Filed July 3, 1928 Patented Nov. 4, 1930 UNITE-D STATES WILLIAM: J'. DE WITT, 0F AUBURN,

OF AUBURN, NEW YORK,

NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO THE SHOE FORM CO., vSING.,

A. CORPORATION OF NEW 4YOIBLK nosmBY roma' .application mea my s,

The object of this invention is to provide a hollow hosiery form on which hosiery is displayed and to provide a process for making such form The form embodying this invention and selected for the purpose of illustration thereof is one which normally takes the natural position assumed when the human foot is in a shoe, the heel being higher thany the toe, without placin the hosiery under any unusual strain or maling or defacing it in any way. A form embodying this invention, when'standing upright upon a surface, will normally assume a position with the forepart 'resting upon the surface and the heel portion raised above the surface, without the application of an external bracing supporting means which, prior to' this invention, has been thou ht necessary. l

Ot er objects of the invention reside in the 42| details of construction and process of manufacture hereinafter set forth in the specification and illustrated in the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of a hosiery form em dying'this invention and adapted for the'display of hose or socks;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the forepart of the. form illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is asectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken alon the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, illustrating the joinder between two parts of the form;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, illustrating a modification of the joinder there illustrated;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation, of a hosiery, form madeup o partly in section.f afoot form and i 4c a leg form before the forms are assembled;

Fig. 7 is a view illustrating one wa of joining the foot and leg forms shown in v ig.,v

6 and f Fig 8 is a view illustrating a hosiery form comprising a toe and leg form. j

192s. serial No. 290,252.

The hosiery form designated generally by thereference numeral 1 replicates the human lower leg and foot, and comprises a foot form 2 and al leg form 3. The foot form 2 is similar -in many respects to the shoe form shown in my Patent No. 1,632,954, dated June 21, 1927, certain features, however, hatng been yadded thereto. The foot form 2 comprises a heel portion 5, a forepart or toe portion 6, and a sole 7. The forepart 6 includes a bottom flange 8 which is connected across the ball of the foot by a bridge or cross piece 9. The bridge 9 is attached to the bottom of the flange 8 and is preferably, although not necessarily of the two-ply construction set forth in my Patent No. 1,585,284, dated May 18, 1926, the ends of the plies being separated and straddled over the edges of the' iian e 8. A strip 10 is secured to the upper face o the bridge 9 and provided at its forward end with a flange 11 which projects into the hollow of the form, preferably at right angles to theA body portion of thestrip, and is spaced back from the front edge of the bridge 9 to provide a recess 12. In the toe of the forepart 6 is inserted a weight 15, which preferably fills the toe and is supported upon the flange 8 and in the recess 12 formed by the bridge 9 and lthe strip 10. The iiange 11 of the strip 10 bears against the inner end of thegweight 15 alllid thps holds it securely in its position in t e toe.

The leg form 3 is substantially tublargalg;

3 are made separately and then joined atsubno l stantially the ankle line. In Fig. 4 is illustrated one form of joinder in which the upper edge 20 of the foot form is depressed slightly to provide a shoulder 21 which receives the lower end 22 of the leg form. The edge 23 of this end may be shaped so that it will coincide with the outer contour of the edge 20. These parts may be secured together in any suitable manner, preferably by adhesive material which may be a cement, or' which may be a solvent by which the material from which the forms are made is softened. In any case, thefoot form 2 and the leg form 3 are permanently united so that the entire form 1 may be handled as a unit, the flange 24 stiffening the joinder.

In place of the joinder illustrated in Fig. 4, that shown in Fig. 5 may be employed in which the foot form 2 and leg form 3 each terminate at their adjoiningends in flanges 25, 26, respectively. These fianges project into the hollow of the form and may be firmly united in any desired manner, such as that previously referred to or by means of rivets if desired.

Figs. 6 and7 illustrate another means for preparing the hosiery form. yIn these figures the foot form 2 is shown completely finished while the leg form is shown as a substantially cylindrical tube 30. The tube 30 is of such diameter that it will enter the hollow of the foot form, and is provided at its lower edges with motches 31. The leg form 3 is inserted into the hollow of the foot form 2 and the assembled forms are then placed in a two-part mold or die 32 which completely surrounds and embraces the forms 2 and 3. The mold 32 is hollow and is given an internal conformation which corresponds to the conforma' tion desired of the finished form. A steam bag 35 is introduced into the tube 30 and then caused to expand, forcing the walls of the tube 30 outwardly into contact withthe walls of the mold 32 and into contact with the inner surface of the form 2. The heat in the bag 35 softens the material of the tube 30 so that it will assume the desired position. This application of heat and pressure by the steam bag thus unites the contracting surfaces of the leg 'and foot forms and produces a unitary hosiery form.

The steam bag 35 completely fills the forms as shown in Fig. 7 and after sufficient heat and pressure has been applied air is introduced into the bag to cool the form and set the material in the desired position. After the form has been removed from the mold 32 the joinder is treated with acetone in order to connect the overlapping portions. If the upper edge of the foot form 2 is softened with acetone and then given a rubbing and smoothing action practically all trace of the joinder can be removed. The j oinders shown in Figs. 4 and 5 can be similarly treated with similar results.

In place of the foot lform 2 including the heel portion 5 a foot form 40 which comprises only the toe may be used as shown in ig. 8. lhe joinder between the forms can thus be made nearer the toe so that if a shoe -be placed on the form the joinder will beV entirely concealed thereby. The leg form 41 illustrated in Fig. 8 vincludes the heel portion 42. The forms 40 and 41'are preferably united in a mold similar t0 the mold l32 by the use of Ja steam bag, the form 41 being produced from a tube in the manner previously debe tucked in out of sight as indicated on Fig. 1. f l

It will be noted that the form herein described is transparent or translucent and an electric bulb or other source of light. may be inserted if desired to bring out more distinctly the texture and pattern of the hosiery disp played thereon. Since the material of which the form is made is flexible the hosiery can be slipped thereon without putting it under any undue strain, the form yielding when necessary. Moreover the flexibility of the form is of advantage in filling the hosiery and if the size of the hosiery be properly selected the form will present the appearance of a well hosed human leg and foot.

The forfn herein described may be used for displaying shoes in addition to hosiery with very pleasing results. When so used Athe hosiery is first slipped onto the form and then the hosed form inserted into a shoe. In place of hosiery the outer surface of the form 1 may be treated to imitate hosiery being given striations which simulate the texture of the hosiery and being tinted in any desired color. @ne way of so treating the form is by applying to the outer surface a solvent, such as acetone, which -will temporarily soften the surface,lapplying a fabric of the desired texture to the softenedsurface thereby producing striations'therein and removing the fabric before the surface has entirely hardened again. The surface of the form retains the imprint of the fabric and when a shoe is slipped thereon the effect is that of a hosed form. 0n Fig. 8 of the drawings the reference numeral 50 is applied to designate a portion of the outer surface of a form which has been provided with striat-ions as suggested above. In most cases the entire outer surface of the form would be so treated but it is felt that the showin here made is sufficient for the purposes of t application and that it is not necessary to extend it over the entire surface of the form.

Instead of permanently uniting the leg and foot form as described above the forms may be removably united so that the foot forni could be used either alone or with the leg form attached thereto. While the process of making the leg form illustrated in the drawings and vdescribed herein includes the use of the mold or die 32 or a similar device, it has been `found feasible to omit the mold or die and employ a steam bag in the shape of a leg, so that the le form is given the desired contour by the inflation of the bag alone.

The form illustrated is one on which half hose or s'ocks can be completely displayed and can only be used for full length as suggested in Fig. 1. It is obvious, however, that a form adapted to display completely full length hose could be provided if desired without'departing from this invention, and while ythe invention has been illustrated in certain embodiments it is not limited thereto, since other embodiments could be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

lI claim:

l. A hosiery form replicating the human leg and foot and having a weight at the forepart of the foot portion so that the form normally takes the natural position assumed when the human foot is in a shoe, the heel being higher than the toe.

2. A form replicating the human foot and having a weight at the orepart thereof so that'the form normally takes the^ natural position assumed when the human foot is in a shoe, the heel being higher than the toe.

3. A hollow hosiery form replicating the human leg and foot and comprising a foot form and a leg form and a weight in the forepart of the foot Jr'ormso that the hosiery form normally takes the natural position assumed when the human foot is in a shoe, the heel being higher than the toe.

4. In a hollow hosiery form including a foot form open at the forepart, a flange at the open portion, a bridge across the open portion and a weight in the forepart bearing upon the flange and bridge.

5. In a hollow hosie form including a foot form open at the lPdrepart, a flange at the open portion, a bridge across the open portion, a weight in the orepart bearing upon the ange and bridge, and a strip carried by the bridge and bearing against the weight to hold it in place in the forepart of the form.

6. In a hollow hosiery form includingv a foot form open at the forepart, a flange at the open portion, a bridge across the open portion, a weight in' the forepart bearingu on the flange and bridge, anda' strip carupright, and having a weight in the foot portion so as to hold-the form in such position. t

Signed by vme at Auburn, New York, this 22nd day of March, 1928.

WILLIAM'JL DE WITT.

rigid by the bridge and havinganuplwardly;V

soy 

